What does it take to sell art?

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Whoah, it's been, like, ages since I last posted on WP.

Anyway, after nine years of studying at various colleges, I've decided it's finally time to make some money for myself. I'm still undecided on what my main job is going to be, but for the time being, I've put together a Society6 page where I can sell the artwork I like to make for fun. After all, who wouldn't want to make at least part of their living on the products of their favorite hobbies?

Alas, I've barely had any success with my Society6 endeavor so far. It's been four months, and I've made only one damn sale (the customer in question was one of my FB friends). I am still scratching my head on why that is, but I have a feeling my problem is getting myself noticed by potential customers. Maybe I need to promote myself more aggressively (though I have tried linking to my Society6 page on social media sites like FB and Twitter). Either that, or something about the quality or subject matter of my art is turning people off.

If anyone here's enjoyed any degree of success with selling art, either offline or online, I'm all ears as to your strategies.

practice.

I'm an artist. I draw for a living.
you need to practice more.

but practice in a smart way:
read ernst gombrich's Story of Art and Art and Illusion.
and then learn to copy the masters. not because you should paint like someone else, but to create a mental library of how to solve questions of how to depict something. when should you draw a nose like a Disney artist, when should you draw it like Katsushika Hokusai, when like Albrecht Duerer? figure that out.

when you get better, use social media as a marketing tool.

also: your art is really expensive, considering it's unlimited prints. for that kind of money, I could buy a fine art print of an old master who practiced all his life. No offense.

Even the best artists have trouble selling stuff when they are living.

And this is why it is so difficult to actually do so. Lot's of people are trying.

You either need to do something that is appealing to a lot of people and that not a lot of other people could come up with or you need exceptional skills.
And then you also need to be good at self-advertising. Even exceptionally good artists can go unnoticed if they can't advertise their stuff.

Your drawings are obviously a lot better than that of the average person, but they are far below the quality of the best artists I've seen on deviant Art or elsewhere. I know that's harsh to say but I think you will only make little money with your art because it is only good but not exceptionally good.

It is easier to sell art if you take commissions, but then it becomes more like a job.

Hi there.

Artist here.
My artwork is currently for sale online through Etsy.
I have also sold my art in person at craft shows,
through consignment shops and gift shops,
directly through Facebook,
and off an art gallery wall at a juried exhibition.

1) Create art that you love and are passionate about, doing your best and being open to improve.

2) The artwork has to be something that someone will want enough to pay money for ... getting feedback can help ... I used to be active on a website where you uploaded weather photos and people rated each photo with a score from 1 to 10. I also had a Flickr account, where people would rank your photos and leave comments. From that feedback, I learned which of my fine art photos would be most likely to sell.

3) Market your art and get your artwork seen by others. I actually did sell a few photos from Flickr ... from there, I participated in an art show at a tourist spot, set up a card table and people bought my photos. Interacting with people at the art show also helped me learn what people liked. From there, I took some matted photos into an art gallery, showed the people at the cash register ... and they invited me to submit my work into their next juried exhibit, as well as inviting me to sell some of my work through their gift shop. Then I filled out forms to enter other art gallery and museum exhibits, and opened an online Etsy shop.

4) Get your own professional website. If you're a professional artist, it's almost a must nowadays.

5) Business cards (I need to have new ones printed.)

6) Have a social media presence. In the past I had a blog. Now I'm on Facebook. The newest trend for artists is Instagram. You don't need to do it all. Pick one, and spend a modest amount of time marketing on it.

7) Create more art. Now I'm getting into painting, and this is the point where I'm at now ... I really need to focus on creating new artwork ... you have to constantly be creating new work to succeed.

I wish you the best of success!